From March 4 through 31, the Gene Siskel Film Center welcomes you to the 14th Annual European Union Film Festival, the largest showcase in North America for the cinema of European Union nations. This year’s festival, our largest yet, boasts 64 films representing 24 nations, highlighted by new films from major directors including Michael Winterbottom (THE TRIP), Catherine Breillat (THE SLEEPING BEAUTY), Tony Gatlif (KORKORO), Álex de la Iglesia (THE LAST CIRCUS), Nicholas Philibert (NÉNETTE), Manoel de Oliveira (THE STRANGE CASE OF ANGELICA), Christi Puiu (AURORA), Pedro Costa (CHANGE NOTHING), Pantelis Voulgaris (WITH HEART AND SOUL), and Jan Hrebejk (KAWASAKI’S ROSE).

According to the tradition of our festival, the opening night is presided over by the nation currently holding the presidency of the European Union. On Friday, March 4, our hosts are the Honorable Karoly Dan, Consul General of Hungary in New York, and Kaarina Koskenalusta, Honorary Consul of Hungary, Chicago, who will introduce the opening night film BIBLIOTHÈQUE PASCAL, Hungary’s dark and fanciful designated Academy Award contender. Director Szabolcs Hajdu and star Orsolya Török-Illyés will be present for audience discussion.

Also scheduled to appear are director Cary Fukunaga and star Mia Wasikowska of the United Kingdom’s JANE EYRE (March 6), director Tomas Donela of Lithuania’s FAREWELL (March 12 and 17), and actress/supermodel Liya Kebede of the United Kingdom’s DESERT FLOWER (March 13). Other possible guest appearances were unconfirmed at press time; please check back for updates on guest appearances and added special events in association with screenings.

In all, the festival includes nine films that were selected to represent their nations in this year’s competition for Best Foreign Language Film. In addition to BIBLIOTHÈQUE PASCAL, we screen the official Academy Award contenders from Austria (LA PIVELLINA), Belgium (ILLEGAL), the Czech Republic (KAWASAKI’S ROSE), Estonia (THE TEMPTATION OF ST. TONY), Italy (THE FIRST BEAUTIFUL THING), Portugal (TO DIE LIKE A MAN), Slovakia (THE BORDER), and Slovenia (9:06).

We close the festival on Thursday, March 31, with Michael Winterbottom’s hilarious road comedy THE TRIP, followed by a closing night reception hosted by Whole Foods Market.

The Gene Siskel Film Center thanks the consulates, the consuls general, and the cultural institutes of the European Union in Chicago, and their embassies in Washington, D.C., for their enthusiastic participation. We especially salute the efforts of all those who served on the festival planning committee.

—Barbara Scharres and Martin Rubin

Vote for the Audience Award! Win a Free Membership!

Vote for the European Union Film Festival’s Audience Award, and your ballot may be selected for the grand prize of a year’s membership to the Film Center! Ballots are available in the lobby. Past winners of the award include I’M NOT SCARED (2004), COLOSSAL SENSATION! (2005), CLEAN (2006), AFTER THE WEDDING (2007), THE UNKNOWN WOMAN (2008), THE BEACHES OF AGNES (2009), and THE WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LURKS AROUND THE CORNER (2010).

Purchase a European Union festival pass for $50!

6 movies for the price of 5, plus a free small popcorn with each film. Turn your pass in at the end of the festival for a $5 discount on a Gene Siskel Film Center membership. An $83 value for $50!

For their generous assistance in obtaining films for the European Union Film Festival, the Gene Siskel Film Center thanks:

The Desert of Forbidden Art is about the second largest collection of Russian Avant-Garde art in the world. The Nukus museum, where it is housed, is in one of the poorest regions of the world, Central Asia, but the collection is worth millions. Most of this art has never been seen before and is virtually unknown in the west. The New York Times calls the collection, “One of the most remarkable collections of 20th-century Russian Art.” Ben Kingsley, a collector himself, voices the museum’s collector, Savitsky. Under Soviet rule, Savitsky risked everything to collect this “forbidden” art, and stash it away in his museum in Uzbekistan.

The Desert of Forbidden Art has already screened at the National Gallery of Art in DC, the MFA Boston, and many festivals. The film will air on the Emmy-award winning PBS Independent Lens. We’ve won best doc at Palm Beach, and most recently the Cine Golden Eagle Award. We hope this film will interest you and your students. Please feel free to visit our website www.desertofforbiddenart.com/ for our trailer and other materials.